1986 was a turning point for the Buffalo Bills Franchise even though the 4-12 Record didn't show it. The arrival of Jim Kelly at the start of the season and Coach Marv Levy at mid-season: End of Story-GO BILLS!!!!!
Love it when NFL Films would do videos about bad teams (Bills were 4-12) but narrowly edit them to make you think they were future champions. Some of those haven't aged so well. The Bills slowly accumulated pieces, though, and though they never won the Super Bowl I will hold fast in calling them a great team. Adding Thurman Thomas and letting Marchibroda run the offense were the masterstroke moves.
Well when you have to upsell 18 non-playoff teams, 1 or 2 of those "a team on the rise" or "a piece away from the Super Bowl" selljobs will usually pan out. Most, no.
They talk about building a foundation, and unlike so many other NFL season highlights that talk about that, this one actually came true as the years went on.
"Inconsistent play and self defeat." This is so accurate about Buffalo Bills teams, and is still the team's identity. They may never win. I'm from Buffalo and have witnessed it since the 80's.
With Kelly's arrival to Orchard Park, you could tell the bills were much better. Not only did their win total double that year, but the losses they had were close. They were blown just once in 1986. Also, firing Hank bullough and replacing him with marv levy
@7:12 that was a very fortunate drop by Riddick - it got Bullough fired and Levy hired. It was the Bills 21st consecutive loss on the road. And Kelly didn’t bite his tongue back in the day: “It makes you mad when you put the ball right there and it goes through Robb’s hands.” Kelly was right, but he definitely threw players under the bus early in his career, which is not the right way to handle things and is not being a good teammate - especially when you’re the leader/QB of a team. But... who knows what would have happened had Riddick caught that?...
I replayed that drop a few times in this video. I wasnt sure if it was intentional drop. The chatter in the locker room was that if you did something to win the game vs Tampa Bay and keep Coach Bullough around, thered be locker room retribution.
1986 was a turning point for the Buffalo Bills Franchise
even though the 4-12 Record didn't show it. The arrival of Jim Kelly at the start of the season and Coach Marv Levy at mid-season: End of Story-GO BILLS!!!!!
Love it when NFL Films would do videos about bad teams (Bills were 4-12) but narrowly edit them to make you think they were future champions. Some of those haven't aged so well. The Bills slowly accumulated pieces, though, and though they never won the Super Bowl I will hold fast in calling them a great team. Adding Thurman Thomas and letting Marchibroda run the offense were the masterstroke moves.
Well when you have to upsell 18 non-playoff teams, 1 or 2 of those "a team on the rise" or "a piece away from the Super Bowl" selljobs will usually pan out. Most, no.
We ARE DREAMING BIG AND TALKING PROUD!!!! THE BILLS MAKE ME WANNA SHOUT!!!!
I remember week 1 vs the jets, when the bills went on offense for the first time of the season, everyone was cheering for jim kelly
They talk about building a foundation, and unlike so many other NFL season highlights that talk about that, this one actually came true as the years went on.
"Inconsistent play and self defeat." This is so accurate about Buffalo Bills teams, and is still the team's identity. They may never win. I'm from Buffalo and have witnessed it since the 80's.
With Kelly's arrival to Orchard Park, you could tell the bills were much better. Not only did their win total double that year, but the losses they had were close. They were blown just once in 1986. Also, firing Hank bullough and replacing him with marv levy
Bruce Smith
1985 number one pick by the Bills
3:21
Jim Kelly
1983 14th overall pick by the Bills
34 Years Ago
I know....time flies
Jim Kelly#12 10 Years Seasons With The Buffalo Bills (1986-1996)
11 seasons
1:09
Jim Kelly (12) throws a touchdown pass to Andre Reed (83)
2:20
Marv Levy
Hall of fame coach
11:46 Kelly throws that ball 65+ yards.
@7:12 that was a very fortunate drop by Riddick - it got Bullough fired and Levy hired. It was the Bills 21st consecutive loss on the road. And Kelly didn’t bite his tongue back in the day: “It makes you mad when you put the ball right there and it goes through Robb’s hands.” Kelly was right, but he definitely threw players under the bus early in his career, which is not the right way to handle things and is not being a good teammate - especially when you’re the leader/QB of a team. But... who knows what would have happened had Riddick caught that?...
I replayed that drop a few times in this video. I wasnt sure if it was intentional drop. The chatter in the locker room was that if you did something to win the game vs Tampa Bay and keep Coach Bullough around, thered be locker room retribution.